Seal-lock



C. CLARKE-, SEAL 1.00K.

(No Model.)

Patented Feb. 6, 1883'.

.. WRR) CvAN N. FTERS. PHD10-LilMgmphGn wathinginn. D. C.,

iiivrrnn STATES CHARLEs CLARKE, or ovID, AssIGNoR E ONEHALE To THCMAsTANDY,

' or DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

SEAL-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 271,684, dated February6, 1883.

Application tiled July l2, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, CHARLES CLARKE, of Ovid, in the county of Clinton andState of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improvements inSeal-Locks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description thereof', reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, which` form a part of this specilicatiou.

The nature of this invention relates to certain new and usefulimprovements in thatclass of seal-locks usuallyemployed in securingrailway-car doors. It is usual to do this by means of lead seals ofvarious descriptions, such seals being adapted, in the process oflocking, to receive an impress of some symbol or ligure, by means ofwhich the starting-point ot' the car or other information is obtained.

My improvement consists, in combinati-on with a proper seal-shackle, ofa plain, straight,

vand thin barot' lead,which is designed to pass through proper slots,one in each leg of the shackle, and immediately opposite each other, andadapted to receive the impress of a series of iinpressions,one after theotl1er,'as the circumstances of the case may require. For instance, acar is loaded at Omaha for Boston 'um Detroit, and in its transit mustlpass over the Chicago & Northwestern, the Michigan Central, the GreatWestern, the New York Central, and Boston di Albany railroads, and passthe customs officers on entering and leaving Canada. At Omaha the car islocked by inserting the shackle of my device in the staple of the carwhich holds the car-hasp in position. Then the sealer inserts the thinstraight bar of lead through the slots in each leg of the shackle, andwith his hand-press he imprints at one end of the bar the initial orother symbol that is required, and in such imprinting he tlattens thebar so that it cannot be drawn through the slots. This forms, so tospeak, a head to the bar, such head being utilized to exhibit one of thewhole number of seals to be employed. Then the press is again used toenlarge the bar outside the opposite leg of the shackle, and in doingthis imprints the date of loading the car or any other desiredinformation that it may be desirable to convey. The projecting end ofthe bar is folded back upon itself and outside the shackle. On thearrival of the car at Chicago the sealer unfolds the bar, and with hishand-seal press other desired symbol. When the car is received by theMichigan Central roadits sealer inV like manner imprints the date ofsuch receipt of the car upon the bar, just below the last before-madeseal. When the car passe-s into Canada from the last-named road theCanadian customs officer will use his press-'to indicate the date, andthe same thing is done again as the car passes out of Canada and isdelivered to the New York Central road, and the latter' again seals whenit delivers the car successive sealings being scrz'atm, one beside theother ou the bar, so that upon the arrival ofthe car at Boston the barcontains a perfect history of its Vcourse and whereabouts since leavingits point of departure. After each successive sealing the bar is foldedupon itself, as originally described.

ple with the shackle and sealing-bar in position. Fig. 2 is a sectionalview taken on the line .c fr, Fig. l. l

ln the accom panying drawings, A represents the staple, and B the hasp,of an ordinary carfastening; and C represents my sealing-bar, and D isthe shackle in which it is secured.A

Upon the arrival of the car at its destination the sealing-bar can bereadily removed to unlock the car by cutting off the head which has beenmade by the first impress of the hand-press,as hereinbefore described.As the sealing-bar is more than twice as long as the distance fromoutside to outside between the legs of the hasp, it will be seen that inmany instances the entire sealing-bar would not be impressed withsuccessive seals as would be the case in long trips such as have beendescribed, and it would not be necessary when one part of the bar hasbeen thus impressed tO-throw the Whole away, as the impressed part maybe cut off and the balance employed for sealing cars upon shorter trips,where a less number of seals is required to give the history of itstravel.

The shackle D may be provided with a joint,

imprints the date of the arrival of the car or to the Boston Albanyroad, each of these Figure l is a front view of a hasp and staas shownat a, by means of which the legs thereof may be spread, thereby givingroom for successive sealing-s in the bar between the legs, if desired,for locnl limitless, while the sealings at the ends of' the bar willprevent the latter from being accidentally Withdrawn or the shackle maybe made without thejoint, if preferred.

VVhnt I claim as my invention is- 1. The combination, with a suitablefastening device, ot' a two-pronged seal-shackle and a sealing-bar, oneof the prongs ofthe shackle being constructed to be passed through thefastening, and each prong having an aperture

